Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" --Jeremiah 6:16

 

14 May, 2008   comments: (0) Today's Pragmatism   Confessions of a "Not Being Fed" Pastor It's a topic that we've talked about before, relating to churches that change over to the trendy, pragmatic, give the audience what they want, style that dominates today's church scene. When a pastor makes the decision to do this switch, one of the first complaints they begin to hear from their flock is "I'm not getting fed here". When this complaint is made, the usual tactic is to turn it around and make it YOUR fault; you are not reading your bible enough, not getting involved in small groups enough, etc. Rarely do these types of pastors consider that there might be some legitimacy in such a complaint, and that the problem is due to their wimpy preaching (as James White called it) . But here's an account of one such pastor who had a change of heart, and seems to have accepted his responsibility in many of those "I'm not getting fed complaints". You might remember my past link to a Monday Morning Insight blog page which so perfectly portrayed that attitude that I'm talking about. Todd Rhoades has a picture of a baby bottle and the caption on the page reads "Get a Bible, For Crying Out Loud". Todd quotes several pastors that support his point of view, and then asks: "How have you combatted the "I'm not being fed" cry at your church?". And so it seems that it's a cry that needs to be combatted somehow. Well most of the comments on that page were of the predictable variety, helping pastors find ways out of taking responsibility for feeding their flock. But there's one unusual one that I want to bring to your attention: One Pastor Who is Willing To Feed His Flock: I had this [not being fed] comment from a few people in the first church I pastored (some 20 years ago) after I changed the way I preached from sequential exposition to primarily a topical approach that focused on felt-needs. I didn't like the comment because it hurt my ego and I reacted much like a few of the pastors mentioned above in the article did. Because of my pride and insensitivity, I lost the ability to minister to many of the people in that church. I subsequently, and mistakenly resigned that pastorate and went off and planted a church where I could do things the way I wanted to. I had a few very mature and loyal believers help me with the church-plant and we grew quite a bit in the first couple of years with many new converts. I preached on many "relevant topics" and people seemed satisfied. But, after about three years, we lost some really mature and capable people and guess what - I found out that they felt they were not being fed! These people were doing a lot of ministry in and out of the church. They were the teachers and leaders. But they were hungry for the deeper teaching that their I wasn't giving them. I was really devastated and since I knew these people were godly men and women, I really began to rethink my views. I spent the next half-year studying the Pastoral Epistles and many other relevant passages of Scripture and confirmed what I already knew - that it IS the job of the pastor to "feed the flock" Christ has given to him! Certainly, a good pastor will also teach the people under his care how to read, properly interpret and apply Scripture themselves (Eph 4:11-16). But if a pastor is a well-trained interpreter of the Bible, and he is growing deeper in his own understanding of God's Word (and he ought to be), then he should share that deeper understanding with the rest of the church. Since that time I have dedicated myself to the clear, applicational exposition of Scripture from the pulpit in my present ministry and I have seen God bless that effort as the people have grown and have become more mature and better equipped to minister to each other and also to effectively share their faith with the lost. Now let me balance this a bit. All criticism should be taken in context and measured carefully. If only a few people are gripping about the pastor's preaching, he should probably not worry too much about it. But if SEVERAL people (or "hundreds") begin to complain to him that they do not feel fed by his messages, then that warrants some close examination on his part, especially if several of those expressing dissatisfaction are some of the more mature believers in the church! Dr. Steven Lawson has written a very good little book on this issue entitled FAMINE IN THE LAND which I believe every pastor who loves the Word of God should read. It addresses the lack of sound exposition in the modern church and the devastating effects this will have on the future health of the church. You'll find that comment at the bottom of Todd's MMI page that I linked to above. We just thought you should know that if you don't feel fed at your church, and your pastor is telling you that it's all your fault, there's a chance he's wrong. Perhaps it's time to look for another church that's committed to expositional preaching of the Word of God. The pastor above gives us hope that some of those churches still exist. Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/.id.2.pid.924   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism